Enthralled
by OnyxVortex
Summary: Sixteen year old Rachel Roth has never met someone to capture her attention so quickly. She's also never found the color green appealing in the slightest. There's a first time for everything, right?
1. Something New

**Hey guys! So this is my second story on here. I'm kinda taking a break from my first story, "Through the Years", as you can tell. I promise I'm not abandoning it, but I just felt the urge to write something a little different at the moment. I thought I'd get it down before I lost the inspiration. Please go check out my first story if you haven't already! It has no connection to this one, but I am extremely proud of it so far. Anyway I hope you enjoy :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.**

 _ **Chapter One**_

Rachel Roth was not a difficult soul. Though all her life she had been told that she was not like everyone else and that she was a bother to deal with, she never once considered herself to be difficult. Rachel Roth considered herself to be unique, intelligent, and above high school. Rachel didn't hate high school for the endless homework, early mornings, or even the smelly bathrooms. All of that, she could deal with. Rachel simply hated the people. Every last one of them, save her twin brother Richard. Now, Richard was not in the slightest way as antisocial as Rachel. No, he was outgoing and warm and seemed to make friends at the drop of a dime. He was popular. Nearly every girl at the small overpopulated school not-so-secretly drooled over Richard. Something curious was that Richard never seemed to let all the attention go to his head, it was an odd trait for a sixteen year old boy. He often kept his cool and rarely left his sister's side. Either he was extremely mature or he was extremely oblivious. Rachel was never quite sure. All in all, Rachel was thankful for her twin. He was the only person in her life to understand her. Heck, he should understand her after all they've gone through together. The cards Rachel and Richard had been dealt were definitely not the easiest to play with. Of course life was better now, after years in foster homes the two finally ended up in a good home to say the least. Bruce Wayne was an excellent father. Though at first he was only interested in having a boy, he had warmed up to Rachel effortlessly. He really connected with her over his large library that he later had catered to her intellectual needs. Any kid would be jealous of Richard and Rachel's lifestyle, but the twins kept it hidden. Richard went on to say that he didn't want to be treated differently around school and Rachel agreed. They wore normal inexpensive clothes to school, rejected Bruce's efforts to let the limo drop them off in the mornings, and above all never invited people over to the mansion. It was an easy enough secret to keep considering that the twins never got in trouble, thus never causing Bruce to roll up in his million dollar car wearing his million dollar suit smoking a million dollar cigar. Rachel was antisocial anyway, so she never had to worry about avoiding sleepovers held at her house or friends coming to pick her up. Richard struggled a little more than his sister, but it was nothing a little white lie couldn't contain. Yes, life had been considerably good to the twins in the past few years. Rachel didn't have much to complain about really, except for the idiots that she was forced to coexist with at a ridiculously close proximity every day.

"What if I'm home-schooled?" Rachel murmured as she crunched on a bright red apple. She was wearing a long sleeved black sweater. The sweater was ripped in several places. Her dark blue jeans were tight on her skinny body and tucked into her black combat boots. Rachel tucked a piece of her shoulder length black hair behind her ear, revealing her many ear piercings. She was feeling very tired and not in the mood to deal with other teenagers. Then again, she was never in the mood.

"With all due respect Miss, you only have two years of high school left." Alfred reminded her as he poured some fresh tea into her favorite purple mug. As if she needed reminding, she'd been counting down her days left in that school since the first day of the ninth grade.

"What's your point?"

The short conversation was interrupted by Richard, who seemed to be in a frenzy searching for something. Rachel took a moment to examine her brother's choice of clothing for yet another day of school. He was wearing his favorite dark red button up with black jeans. His hair had its usual five pounds of hair gel forced in to shape it perfectly. Richard's ever present dark sunglasses hung from the collar of his shirt. He always seemed to have remarkably good timing, that timing being whenever Rachel was about to receive a sarcastic word of advice from their favorite butler.

"Alfred! Have you seen my wallet? I can't find it and I'm running late and I could have sworn I left it on my dresser." Richard's bright blue eyes were ridiculously focused and hard. Rachel had the same blue eyes, but often covered them with dark purple contacts, which were the same color as the ends of her dark hair.

Alfred opened his mouth to speak but Rachel beat him to it.

"Oh yeah, here." She said simply as she tossed the black leather wallet to her brother's face. He checked the insides.

"Is there... a reason why I'm missing money? Rachel... Bruce literally has piles of... money laying around and you still choose to go... in my wallet?" he complained as he scarfed down his eggs and ham already laid out on a plate for him next to Rachel. Their breakfasts were always made and waiting for them in the exquisite dining room.

"It's fun to watch you squirm like that." She shrugged as she finished off her apple. "You coming? We're going to be late." Rachel dropped her apple core in the remarkably clean trash can as she made her way to the large glass front door.

Richard grunted as he gulped some orange juice and grabbed his bag. "You see what I have to deal with?" he pointed at Rachel's parting figure before he began to follow it. "Hey, I'm driving!" he shouted as he heard the jingle of car keys. He picked up speed until he was out the door. Alfred smirked at the two. He could tell Richard wasn't actually mad. He never seemed to be angry with his sister.

…

"Richard I swear one day your driving is going to kill us! How are you not afraid to go that fast?"

The boy in question simply shrugged as he exited the car and grabbed his things. Rachel always scolded him about his driving. She considered it to be reckless.

"Look, if Bruce would just let me take my motorcycle to school, this wouldn't be a problem would it?" he smiled at his twin after she retrieved her bag while locking the car.

"Shut up, I wouldn't let you near that thing unattended either." A small smile escaped Rachel's lips as she continued to joke with her brother while they made their way into the main hallway of the school. She ducked her head to make sure her peers didn't see. She enjoyed the rumors going around that claimed she had no soul, or that she was part demon. She enjoyed the fact that people found her intimidating. All was going to plan until she bumped into something that felt like a human being. She stumbled back for a second, weirdly caught off guard. She was never caught off guard.

"Whoa dude, I'm sorry." A husky voice choked out as some things that felt suspiciously like hands caught her.

"You're touching me." She grumbled as she looked up at whatever had caused her to almost fall.

Green. The eyes she was staring into were the brightest and most appealing green she had ever seen. They belonged to a boy she had never seen before. He had somewhat shaggy blonde hair and freckles dotted across his cheeks. His lips were in a little half smile. Rachel didn't know this boy, but this smile seemed to be one that rarely left his face.

"I'm sorry, what'd you say?" The green eyes questioned, but for once in her life Rachel was at a loss for words. As quickly as the mesmerization had come, it had left when she realized the guy's hands were still on her forearms. His grip was tight. Strong.

"You're touching me." She spat louder. The hands left. Richard seemed to just now catch wind that some guy was actually talking to his sister. He turned his head, interested to see who had been stupid enough to touch Rachel. The green-eyed boy seemed put off by the sudden volume increase, but managed to put a smile on his face nonetheless.

"I'm Gar. I'm new here." He proclaimed as he put out his hand. Rachel ignored the gesture.

"I don't care." She huffed as she tried to look as intimidating as possible. This Gar character was barely fazed. Richard, being the nice guy he was, stepped in and shook his hand.

"I'm Richard. This is my twin sister Rachel. Nice to meet you…" He showed off his perfect smile as he began to chatter away about their stupid school.

Rachel took this opportunity to size this guy up, while glaring of course. Gar was wearing a light blue long sleeved shirt with three buttons going down from the neckline. The shirt wasn't at all tight, but the way Gar had rubbed his neck while listening to Richard ramble showed off some muscle underneath. She noticed that the same half smile was still on his face, even when he realized that Rachel was glaring at him.

Before Gar could add to the introduction, the loud annoying electronic bell rang signaling that the teens needed to get to first period. Gar took a folded schedule out of his pocket and began to study it.

"Hey, we'll see you around man. Don't worry; it's not too bad here. If you can find us you can..." The male twin was cut off by a dainty hand tugging him away from the new boy. Rachel continued to drag her brother all the way to first period. Gar let out an amused laugh as he watched them go. He didn't speak to him very long, but he knew that he liked Richard. There was something about the way that he held himself; he was calm, cool, and collected. Rachel was another story. She was sharp and bursting with some kind of energy that he couldn't put his finger on. She was just intriguing. Her dark purple eyes seemed to remind Gar how much he loved that color. Rachel was something else. Something mysterious and not like any girl he had ever met. He had to know more about that girl.

 **And there you have it! I know that there are about a million high school stories about the Teen Titans but I just couldn't resist! Obviously the rest of the team hasn't made their appearances yet but I'm working on it, so don't worry. I have a lot in store for this story so please stay tuned! Also any reviews would be much appreciated, I would love to know what I can work on and see what you guys think! Thanks so much for reading! :)**


	2. Friends?

_**Chapter Two**_

Richard finally yanked his hand away from his twin's grasp once they made their way into the large Chemistry classroom.

"What's your deal Rachel? I was just gonna invite Gar to eat lunch with us." He reasoned.

His sister had acted so weird around that new guy. First, she was caught completely off guard, which was strange because Rachel always seemed to be so observant. She was never surprised by much. Secondly, she let that guy hold her arms for way too long, Richard couldn't even recall touching his sister for more than a second without getting lashed out at. Lastly, she had been inexplicably rude. Sure, Richard knew that his sister hated school and everyone in it, but she never really went out of her way to be purposely rude to anyone unless they deserved it.

"I just got a weird vibe from him is all." Rachel shrugged as she made her way to her seat in the far corner of the room. The large classroom was set up more like a lab, with counters long enough for two lab partners set up in rows. There was an odd number of students, so on the first day Rachel had claimed a lab station for herself. Richard sat down at the station to her left and looked at her suspiciously. She could see the wheels in Richard's head begin turning. If Rachel knew anything about her twin, it was that he was terrible at letting things go. Truth be told, it wasn't a vibe she got from Gar, but a feeling. Why hadn't she been able to look away from his eyes? Rachel Roth had never liked the color green in her life, yet she couldn't get the image of Gar's eyes out of her head, or that stupid smile that she found annoying yet wouldn't mind seeing again. What was happening?

Richard opened his mouth to speak but his attention had been stolen by a certain redhead. Kori Anders was the kind of girl that Rachel Roth would never be. She had long, flowing hair and perfectly sparkling bright green eyes that had made Rachel want to throw up when she first met her. Her skin was flawless and tanned. Kori was tall and slim, but had enough curves to make her the most discussed topic in the boy's locker room. Kori happened to be from some foreign country that Rachel couldn't remember the name of. She was still new to American customs, so she was painfully oblivious to most things. One of those things being Richard's embarrassing attempts to show his affection for the tall girl. Kori knew who Richard was, she had agreed to be his lab partner after all, but she just couldn't seem to pick up on any of his shy hints.

"Good morning Friend Richard and Rachel!" Kori beamed as she strutted to her seat, her short purple skirt barely doing its job. Kori always seemed to be wearing something that barely covered her body. No one ever saw the way she dressed as slutty or provocative though, because she was incredibly innocent whenever anything came to male and female relationships. Rachel questioned if Kori had ever even dated anyone.

"Hey Kori," Richard managed to drool out. "You look nice today."

The girl simply smiled sweetly as she took her seat beside Richard. Nearly everyone was seated by now. The bell gave another annoying ring. The teacher, Ms. Jacobs, was a perky blonde woman who Rachel resented for obvious reasons. She began to babble away about the notes they were about to take as she shut the classroom door. Rachel sighed as she took out her black pen and notebook. Chemistry by far wasn't her worst class; she found it simple enough and never did poorly on a test. The subject just wasn't interesting to her. She preferred English and Art classes, not Math and Science. Just as Rachel began titling her notes in cursive, there was a knock at the door.

"Come on in!" Ms. Jacobs squealed as she continued to scribble on the board. The door creaked open to reveal a boy who Rachel recognized to be Victor Stone. He was tall, dark-skinned, and had short black curly hair. His built figure looked about ready to rip through his grey V-Neck at any moment. Rachel had never talked to Victor, but knew little things about him, like how he was a varsity football player or about how he was surprisingly good at math and science. She had to admit that she had stereotyped him as just another dumb jock back in the early months of ninth grade. That was, until she heard that he scored the highest standardized test grades the school had in years. Near perfect scores. Since then she had a sort of a respect for Victor; he was kind and stayed out of trouble unlike the rest of his team.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Stone?" Ms. Jacobs asked. Even though Victor was not in her class she knew his name. Everyone knew his name. He was one of the few students who was both the best on the field and in the classroom.

"I made a class transfer. This is my first period now." He explained as he handed her his new schedule. She observed it for about a second before she gave him instructions that made Rachel groan inwardly.

"You can have a seat next to Rachel Roth; she's a good student like yourself. She'll get you caught up on what we've gone over the past few days." She smiled as she pointed out Rachel. Most people probably would have rudely asked to sit next to anyone else, but Victor simply nodded and headed her way. Rachel moved her stuff over to make room.

"Hey." Victor's deep voice greeted as he sat down and got himself settled.

"Hi." Rachel glanced at the large boy sitting on her right. "I'm assuming you don't need much catching up."

He chuckled at her assumption. "My parents have been teaching me all they know about science, math, and technology since before I can remember." Victor's words didn't sound cocky or rude, it was just the truth. Rachel had heard that Victor's parents are some hotshot scientists once, but never thought much of it.

"Good. I'm glad I won't need to tutor you."

Victor chuckled once more. He found Rachel's tone amusing for some reason. Rachel didn't say much else to him throughout the class, but wasn't exactly annoyed by his presence. She was glad she wasn't seated with a complete imbecile.

...

"I think I'm going to sit outside today." Rachel warned her twin. "It feels nice and I can read while I drink the tea Alfred made for me."

Every so often Rachel would opt out of sitting with Richard at lunch to sit by herself at one of the many metal tables set up outside of the cafeteria. She would read and drink her tea to relax herself. The alone time really aided her in keeping her sanity at school. Richard nodded and didn't say a word about it as they made their way to the cafeteria. Rachel assumed he was trying not to look too excited about being able to talk to Kori without his sister's watchful eye on them. They parted ways silently as Rachel made her way to her favorite spot outside. It was a small relatively clean red and white table that was under a somewhat tall tree. Rachel sighed contently as she settled herself and began to sip the warm liquid out of her dark purple bottle that Alfred had poured tea into just a few hours earlier. The peace only lasted for about a second.

"Rachel, right?"

Rachel recognized this voice to be the same slightly raspy voice from this morning. The voice that went with the green eyes. Rachel considered acting like it wasn't her, but found that idea to be stupid considering he clearly remembered her and Richard.

"Gar, right?" She quipped back softly, not sure of how she felt about the new company. Gar hadn't tried to sit beside her yet; he was just standing in front of her with a ridiculously happy look on his face. He was beginning to resemble a puppy that was ready to hop up and play with you at any moment. Honestly, who even smiled that much?

"I knew you cared!" Gar chirped as he perched himself on the seat across the table from Rachel. He began to unpack his lunch. Rachel remembered her remark about how she didn't care about his name or the fact he was new to him earlier in the hall. Usually she wouldn't care about some shiny new student. She knew how new students worked. They would cling to the first person they met then ditch them after they found their own friends. She was not interested in giving this boy a chance only for him to find his own clique three days later and forget her name. Making friends was never Rachel's strong point anyway.

"Did I say you could sit with me?" Rachel tried to sound cold, but her words only came out a little above a whisper. She knew in the back of her mind that she did not mind looking at Gar's green eyes, for whatever reason.

"You just looked a little lonely, and I mean I don't know anyone yet anyway." Gar grinned childishly as he threw a grape into the air and caught it his mouth. Rachel rolled her eyes then went back to sipping on her tea.

"What, two periods weren't enough time to find anyone other than me to annoy?"

"No, two periods weren't enough time to find anyone more interesting than you are." Gar shrugged, dipping into some baby carrots and ranch. "I'll admit I met some nice people, but I think I'd rather be in your company."

"Oh?" Rachel arched an eyebrow, slightly intrigued. People didn't just choose to hang around her on a regular basis. She never really minded it that way, but even in a few short minutes it was somewhat refreshing to have a conversation with someone who actually chose to speak with her on their own accord, not because a teacher made them or because they were just trying to get closer to her twin. Rachel was thrown aback, but retained her emotionless expression.

"So this is what I'm thinking," Gar started as he munched, "you think I'm funny, you've been enjoying my company, and you want me to sit here again tomorrow. You'd never admit these things to me, but that's what I'm thinking."

Each point in Gar's little list would have made Rachel shudder before today, but today was different. He was different. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew that what she felt for Gar was not hate. Maybe some annoyance and confusion, but definitely not hate. As Gar had predicted, she would never admit that to him, or anyone for that matter.

"Don't be stupid, I don't even know anything about you." Rachel had said this to Gar, but she was mostly reminding herself. It was true, she didn't know anything about Gar other than the fact he made it a point to bump into complete strangers every now and again.

"Good point. Alright, my full name is Garfield Mark Logan. My parents are both veterinarians, we've moved a lot in the past because of their work but they've promised me that we'll be here long enough for me to finish out the rest of high school."

"Lucky me." Rachel mumbled. Gar glared at her for a split second, but kept speaking.

"I'm an only child and I'm a vegetarian."

"Explains the fancy lunch with no meat." Rachel observed.

"I've been on the swim team of my last few schools, so I plan on trying out at this school too! My grades are average I guess... Most classes bore me except for probably Earth Science and Biology. I collect comic books. I am the master of any video game you can name. Oh, and I'm hilarious."

Rachel rolled her eyes. She seemed to be doing that quite often today. "I beg to differ."

"Nobody asked you." Gar retorted in a pretty accurate Rachel impression. They continued to quip back and forth at each other in this manner for what felt like the longest conversation Rachel had held with someone who wasn't Richard, Bruce, or Alfred in a long time. Gar would add in little details about his past or his day so far, and Rachel would listen, throwing in a sarcastic comment or two occasionally. It went on like this until the bell rang.

"Same place tomorrow?" Gar asked hopefully as he pulled out his crumpled schedule. Rachel was surprised he could even still read it.

"Are you normally this open and talkative?"

"Yes." Gar shrugged as he stood up from the lunch table.

"Then no." Rachel stated shortly. She was beginning to become more interested in this boy and his life; it shook her insides. Rachel reminded herself of her past with boys. One boy to be exact. She hadn't been close to a boy, or even trusted a boy since _him._ She shook her head slightly as if to shake the bad memories coming on. She focused her hardest glare on Gar.

"Wait, what?" Gar asked, obviously very confused. His large green eyes seemed to be drained of any happiness in a matter of seconds. His bright puppy smile was nowhere in sight. In his mind he had figured he was warming up to Rachel. He thought he had made a new friend.

"Look, I know how this goes. You'll just cling to me for about a week before finding your own friends and I'm not interested." Rachel huffed as she gathered her things quickly and left Gar to navigate his way to third period. While the reason she told Gar was a good enough and believable reason to keep her distance, Rachel knew very well the real reason she did not want to sit with Gar again. She was not interested in getting close with Garfield Logan. She was not interested in getting hurt again.

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review and tell me what you think! :)**


	3. New Faces

**Alright, I know it's been forever but I've been ridiculously busy. Exams at school. Went to Disney World right after. So now I'm back at school and I'm sure I'll be busy, if not busier than before, but I do not plan on giving up on this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a little longer due to some special appearances by some of my favorite honorary titans. Just warning you now, not a whole lot of fluff in this chapter but I'm getting there :)**

 ** _Chapter Three: New Faces_**

Richard hoped that Rachel would be in the mood to talk; usually she hated having anyone in her room. In the past few years Rachel had become a lot more closed off. Things were different when the twins were younger. See, their old house, where they lived with their birth father, was small and cramped. The twins had shared a room since the day they were brought home from the hospital. Even most foster homes had them room together. Years later, when Bruce had adopted the twins they absolutely hated having separate rooms, no matter how big or lavish. Richard would often wake up from nightmares that told stories of a masked man by the name of Slade and creep to the end of the hall to sleep with his sister. Back then, Rachel always greeted him into her bed with open arms; she knew how bad Slade would haunt her twin. At the time Bruce knew nothing about the man visiting Richard's dreams, but he had noticed that Richard didn't like being down the hall from Rachel, so Alfred suggested emptying out the room next to Rachel's bedroom, making it Richards, and then adding a door in between the rooms. So they did just that. The twins were clearly satisfied to be so close to each other. They would run in and out of each other's rooms constantly. The door between rooms never even seemed to be closed. Yet, as the years went by the door began to go unused save for special occasions. Now fully over his fears of a masked man watching him and his family, Richard only really came into Rachel's room when he knew something was bothering her.

"I saw you with Gar earlier." Richard mused as he plopped down on his sister's large purple bed.

"What's your point?" Rachel was writing an essay at her desk when her brother had barged in. She spun around on her chair to look at him. Richard was lying on his back stretched across her once-neat bed. She rolled her eyes at the sight. She had just made that bed.

"Well, it's just been a while since I've seen you with a friend is all." Richard shrugged as he began fiddling with his phone. She sensed him trying to keep the conversation nonchalant.

"He's not my friend." She breathed, maintaining her calm demeanor even though she did not feel like being reminded of Garfield Logan.

"Then what is he?" He questioned lightly, not wanting to upset Rachel but also not letting the subject go. Why couldn't he just let things go?

"I… I don't know. Anyway I was quite rude to him today so I doubt you'll see him around me again." Deep down, Rachel felt bad for the way she treated Gar. She tried desperately to forget his crestfallen expression at the lunch table.

"Come on Rachel, Gar seems like a nice guy." Richard said as he put down his phone. He looked Rachel right in the eye. "You should give him a chance, don't push him away." Truth be told, Richard remembered a time before Rachel was so distant. Sure, she was closer to him than most, but they used to be even closer. He missed the late nights when Alfred would bring up snacks to Rachel's room as the two gazed out her large bay window and told each other everything. He missed waking up and feeling Rachel's warmth from a room away. He missed their silent conversations that he never quite understood the mechanics of. He just missed knowing that Rachel was there. He hadn't felt her presence like he used to in a long time, and he missed it. Ever since _him_ , Rachel just wasn't the same. The difference wasn't huge, but he could see it in her eyes. He could feel it.

"They all seem like nice guys at first." Rachel mumbled, more to herself than to Richard, as she turned back to her paper. She just wanted to be left alone. She heard Richard's body release one last sigh before he got up and left her to her thoughts. Rachel's body finally relaxed as she let go of a large amount of air that she didn't realize she was holding.

…

Rachel yawned as she went about her normal morning routine: First she would wash her face and brush her teeth, quickly followed by a hot shower. She brushed her hair then threw it into a bun as she went to get dressed. Rachel decided on black ripped jeans accompanied with a dark blue hoodie. She wore her favorite dark blue boots to match. Rachel returned to her large bathroom to apply some dark make up to her eyes. Minutes later, she was ready to go. She glided down the large marble staircase that led to the foyer and rushed to the dining room, where as usual, her breakfast awaited. Alfred greeted her with her normal tea.

"Good morning, Miss. Rachel. Little earlier than usual I see."

"I hadn't noticed." She said plainly as she bit into a quite juicy pear.

"I've noticed that over the past couple of years you only wake up earlier than normal when something is bothering you, Miss." Alfred moved to the kitchen to begin preparing Richard's breakfast. After all, Rachel rarely had anything hot for breakfast other than tea. Usually some fruit or yogurt would suffice, so it was a given that her food be placed out first.

"I suppose you're right." She spoke a little louder than usual over the various kitchen noises erupting from behind her.

"If I may ask, what is on your mind? I might be of some help after all." Alfred called from the stove.

"Well you see Alfred, it's really no big deal. I can handle it myself." Rachel mumbled, deciding to keep her doubts about how she had treated Gar the day before to herself.

"Ah, you always say that. Too good for an old butler's advice, are we?"

Rachel chuckled as she finished off her tea. "Now you know it's nothing personal, Alfred."

"Of course" he smiled proudly as he set Richard's full plate of ham, eggs, and hash browns down next to Rachel. She would never understand how that man could cook up an entire buffet in less than ten minutes. Seconds later, as if he could smell his food from all the way in his room, Richard bounded down the stairs.

"Good morning guys." He greeted as he sat in his usual chair and began to dig in, looking much like a pig. Rachel rolled her eyes as she watched her brother eat. Alfred chuckled at the sight of them before going to grab their lunches.

"Why don't you sit with me at lunch today, Rachel? I feel like you rarely do anymore." Richard mumbled through a napkin he was whipping his mouth with.

Rachel was about to open her mouth to refuse before a convenient boom of thunder seemed to shake the mansion. Heavy rain soon followed. "Looks like I don't have a choice now." She replied blandly as she received her lunch and raincoat from Alfred, who had just entered the room once more. Richard smirked as he did the same.

"Be careful out there driving to school, you two. Master Richard, that means you."

"Yeah, yeah Alfred we'll be fine." Richard waved his hand as he walked towards the door, Rachel on his heels.

…

"We are not going to be fine." Rachel managed to grunt out as she held on for dear life. She knew she should have driven.

"Come on, Rach, I'm taking it slow and everything." Richard wasn't so convincing considering the car almost slid out of a turn he took on too quickly. He let out a somewhat devious laugh as he straightened out the car, only to speed up once again. Richard drove almost as horribly as Wally West. Rachel had been Driver's Ed partners with Wally not too long ago. Wally was not too tall and had short bright red hair. His striking blue eyes and freckles splattered across his round face gave him more of a childish look. That and the fact that he never seemed to sit still. The kid was far too energetic for Rachel's tastes. He had been nice enough, always joking and making smart comments, but Rachel just couldn't handle his random bursts of energy. Not to mention that he had almost killed her and their instructor numerous times on the road. Everything was a race with that kid.

"I actually hate you right now." Rachel muttered, trying to calm herself down.

"Oh gee, thanks Richard for driving me to school even though all I do is insult you! I love you big bro!" Richard mocked sounding almost exactly like Rachel. "See, that's what a nice sister would say."

"Except for the fact that I was the one born first." Rachel mumbled.

"By like a minute! Besides, I'm pretty sure I'm the older twin."

"I don't know who told you that, because-" Rachel was cut off by the car finally skidding to a halt. Water splashed some unsuspecting classmates, who groaned complaints, but Rachel was just glad she made it to school in one piece. Obviously not the stop she would hope for, but a stop nonetheless. She practically ran out of the passenger seat, almost sliding into another parked car. She regrouped quickly, hoping she didn't look too clumsy.

"By the way, I'm driving home." She hissed at Richard as she grabbed her things and didn't even bother to wait for him. She just wanted out of the rain. Sure she loved dark stormy days, but she didn't like to participate in them. Rainy days were good for reading, not for leaving the house.

Rachel was somewhat relieved to go the morning without seeing a certain blond-haired boy. The other half of her, though she'd hate to admit it, was a little disappointed. She hadn't decided if she wanted to talk to him again, but she definitely didn't want to see him disappear forever either. Rachel was yanked out of her thoughts by her new lab partner.

"Hey, Rachel, you alright?" Victor asked.

"S-sure. Why?" Rachel stuttered. She hated when she stuttered.

"Oh you just seem a little out of it I guess. You almost burned yourself there." Victor pointed to the large open flame in front of the two. "And you haven't made a snarky comment all morning. Not that I've known you long, I just figured that mumbling sarcastic taunts was normal for you."

"You're right. I'm good. Thanks." She replied curtly.

"Good to know." Victor still looked a little weary, but didn't push the subject. He didn't know her well enough to do more than simply make sure she didn't burn herself.

Later at lunch Rachel reluctantly followed Richard to his table. At the beginning of the twin's high school careers, Richard and Rachel always ate by themselves. That was until Richard began making friends. One or two people would come over some days, which Rachel would be okay with, but then before Rachel knew it the table would be full. Rachel felt out of place among all of the popular crowds that would take turns sitting by Richard, so she slowly began making excuses on why she couldn't sit with him. She'd say there was homework, or that she needed to catch up on reading. Richard offered to drive some of his friends away, so that Rachel would be comfortable like she used to be, but Rachel wouldn't let him. She did not want to be the reason he lost friends. She simply sat with him a few times a week, then took days to herself. Unfortunately, today she had a feeling that the lunch table would be quite crowded due to the rain. Rachel watched as students who normally ate outside pushed inside the full cafeteria, looking lost while they searched for seats.

When Rachel went to sit she saw Kori Anders and Victor Stone already waiting. She had forgotten that her brother was friends with Vic, this probably explained why he was so kind to her in the first place. Seconds later Rachel's theory was written out when Vic surprisingly exclaimed that he didn't even realize that Richard and Rachel were related. Turns out Vic only met Richard a few weeks ago in an after school engineering club that met twice a week. Rachel had never been there to be introduced and Richard only spoke of work when he was around Vic. Since it was only Victor's second day in the twin's Chemistry class, there wasn't much time to notice the similarities of the two.

A few minutes after sitting and chatting with Kori and Vic, Rachel decided that they weren't a complete waste of time. They were nice enough, and didn't treat her like she was just Richard's sister like so many had done before. New faces that had to go through the lunch line soon appeared at the table, people Rachel didn't even know Richard spoke to. The first was a tall boy named Garth Cordelia. He had dark hair and eyes to match. His slicked back hair kind of gave him a fish like appearance, but he still managed to look quite handsome. He was wearing a light blue sweatshirt and baggy black sweatpants. Rachel later learned that Garth was head of the swim team. Along with Garth came Roy Harper. Roy was lean, redheaded, and reminded Rachel a lot of Richard. He was so serious, clad in a dark red hoodie, just as Richard would be. Following the two came Wally West and Karen Beecher. Rachel had already known Wally personally, but not Karen. She had heard of Karen before, she was almost as popular as Kori, but she was not expecting her to be so stunning. She was dark skinned, with straight dark hair that was styled in a pixie cut that made her look more mature than any teenager Rachel knew. Her round hazel eyes seemed to sparkle similar to Kori's as she laughed at some stupid joke Rachel was sure Wally had just told. Karen was wearing a bright yellow sweater and black skinny jeans. Rachel was a little confused as to why Karen was coming to sit at her brother's table, up until she planted a kiss on Victor's cheek before sitting down. Well, that made sense.

Though Rachel felt uncomfortable by so many people, she offered small smiles and was as polite as possible, not wanting Richard to lose any friends over his weird twin sister. Surprisingly enough, none of them seemed to be judging her. They just went on as if they'd known Rachel for years. She even found herself laughing at some conversations that had started up. Rachel had a feeling that her brother had planned this. He had always brought up the fact that he missed seeing Rachel with a group of friends, like he had years ago. The only flaw in her suspicion was that Richard couldn't control the weather. Or could he?

"Right Rachel?"

Rachel brought herself back to the large lunch table and realized that she no longer knew what the group was discussing. She looked up sheepishly. All eyes were on her.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said, that's Gar over there, right?" Richard repeated his question as he discretely pointed towards the far end of the cafeteria. Everyone at the table was smart enough not to obviously turn around. That was, everyone except for Wally. Roy calmly turned Wally's head back to the table for him. Sure enough, when Rachel looked up, Richard was right. Garfield Logan was searching for a place to sit.

"Yeah, that's him."

"He looks lost." Garth commented as he took another bite of his pizza. Unlike Wally, no one even saw him glace at Gar. In Gar's defense, it was only his second day, and he didn't even set foot in the cafeteria yesterday.

"I know him, he's in my biology class." Vic offered. Rachel raised her eyes at his comment.

"You're taking two sciences right now?" She inquired. Usually schedules at the school worked out so that students had one science a year. Or at least, not two sciences in one semester. Rachel was impressed. Not to mention that the two sciences were AP classes.

"Had room in my schedule. I don't see why not." Victor shrugged as if taking more than one AP science at once was the easiest thing to do as a high school junior. He took another bite of his sandwich that seemed to be bigger than Rachel's head. Karen smiled at Rachel's surprise as devoured some of her own salad.

"We should invite him to sit with us." Wally suggested, remembering what started this boring talk about science.

"That would be glorious!" Kori exclaimed as she flipped her long hair, just excited to meet a new friend.

Richard watched Rachel's reaction out of the corner of his eye. She simply took another sip of her tea, not completely ruling out the suggestion. Richard turned his attention back to Gar, who seemed to be settling himself at an empty table. No one else seemed to oppose the idea. He waved to get the other boy's attention.

"Gar! Hey Gar!" Victor called, waving along with Richard.

"There's no way he's going to hear you, someone's going to have to-" Rachel's prediction proved to be wrong as she watched Gar's head perk up and start shuffling towards the table with a wide smile. Ridiculously good hearing? "Point taken." She muttered.

Once Gar got closer to the table, he stopped in his tracks when he noticed Rachel was sitting with the group that had called him. He averted his gaze at first, then raised his eyebrows at her as if to ask, ' _Is this alright?'_ Rachel gave a single nod then began to study her sandwich crust as if it was the most interesting thing in the room. Gar beamed as he took a seat between Wally and Garth. He was welcomed warmly just as Rachel had been. Rachel zoned out all of the introductions that she only heard what felt like moments ago. She had hoped that no one else at the table noticed the exchange, but she was naive to think that her twin would miss anything.

 **Thanks for reading! As usual please take the time to review! :)**


	4. Parties and Sleepovers

**Hello all! I'm actually really excited to be posting this chapter, I've really enjoyed writing it. Lots of dialogue and even a new friend for Rachel! I hope you all enjoy! :)**

"Hey!" Gar's raspy voice called behind Rachel. She decided that he was not talking to her and continued to walk to her next class. After lunch was over she practically bolted away from the table to avoid this kind of thing.

"R-Rachel!" Gar called again over the crowd of high schoolers going on to third period, now obviously wanting Rachel's attention. She took up speed. Rachel could see the door to her History class; she was almost in the clear. She was nearly there. Rachel let a small smile grace her lips as she sighed with relief and made her way to class.

She relaxed too soon. Right as Rachel had reached the doorway a strong hand grabbed her forearm and pulled her back. A few curses slipped from her mouth as Garfield practically dragged her to the side of the hall, where there was less movement. She took a deep breath, ready to yell at him for even daring to touch her, but he beat her to it.

"Look, you yelled at me when we met, you yelled at me when I tried to eat lunch with you, and you're about to yell at me right now!" Gar seethed. He wasn't yelling; his voice was oddly quiet yet deafening. He sighed as he continued. "I've been perfectly nice to you since the second I met you so you do not get to act like I don't exist." Rachel sighed as she kept her head down. She knew he was right.

"I'm sorry for how I've treated you, Gar." She mumbled to the dirty school floor. Rachel had been on the fence about her rude comments to Garfield, his bringing them up only made her feel worse. She knew it wasn't his fault that she was this way. She was just so afraid of getting close to another boy. Another boy that had the ability to hurt her again. It took guts for Garfield to stand up to Rachel, not many did. Anyone brave enough to face her, prepared to get yelled and cursed at, was someone worthy of Rachel's respect.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get that." Garfield mused, rubbing his chin and putting a hand up to his ear. He made a strained expression on his face. Rachel knew he had heard her. Heck, he could hear Richard and Victor all the way across the cafeteria. Even yesterday when she was mumbling across a lunch table from him, he had never once asked Rachel to repeat herself. If there was one thing Rachel knew for sure about Gar, it was that his hearing was better than anyone she'd ever met.

"Oh shut up, I know you heard me." Rachel growled as she rolled her eyes, ready to walk away.

Before Rachel could make her exit, Gar tugged on her skinny wrist lightly. "So, you wanna start over?" He asked, with that same hope from the day before shining in his emerald eyes. Rachel had to admit, starting over sounded didn't sound too painful. She had apologized, and decided that Garfield Logan was not a complete waste of space.

"Sure." She sighed. Garfield held out his hand.

"My name is Garfield, I'm new here."

"I'm Rachel, nice to meet you Garfield."

…

History class forever felt like the slowest class of the day to Rachel. Shortly after apologizing to Gar, the bell had rung and they went their separate ways. The only person that Rachel did not utterly loathe in her class was a girl named Jennifer Runic. Jen was skinny and pale like Rachel. Her shoulder length light brown hair had pink ends and was usually in a high ponytail. Jen was the kind of person Rachel gravitated to. She was calm, cool, and not an idiot. Jen and Rachel usually only spoke to each other during that one class, but over the course of many class periods, they knew each other well enough for things not to be totally awkward.

"Hey." Rachel droned as she turned to Jen. All of her assignments were done and there were at least thirty minutes of class left.

"Hey Rachel," Jen whispered as she moved closer. "Who was that guy you were talking to before class? Never seen him around."

"He's new, came here yesterday." Rachel shrugged.

"He's kinda cute." Jen suggested as she elbowed Rachel in the side.

"I guess. If you're into guys that resemble a puppy." Rachel slightly blushed at her friend's suggestion. She quickly changed the subject. "Besides, I already know you're into Wally." At the mention of his name, Wally turned his head from the front row and smiled.

"You ladies talking about me?" He winked. Rachel had forgotten that Wally was even in this class due to his seat being so far away. She rolled her eyes as she made a circle motion with her index finger, motioning for Wally to turn back around.

"Me, into that idiot? No way." Jen's face went a bright shade of pink to match her hair before she ducked her head.

"You're so obvious." Rachel sighed as she shook her head at Jen's actions.

"Oh shut up." Jen whispered as she grabbed Rachel's completed assignments to copy.

…

Rachel turned the page in her new book. The book was a gift from Bruce; he sent it from his business trip in England. No matter how busy Bruce was on his trips, he always made time to send gifts to Richard and Rachel. Rachel sighed as she read. She missed her father figure more than she'd like to admit. As soon as Rachel finished chapter one a loud bang signaled that Richard was barging into her room yet again. Rachel groaned. She always forgot to lock that stupid conjoining door. Richard plopped on her large bed, a weird smile on his face.

"What do you want?" Rachel sighed while putting down her book.

"Oh nothing! It's just that… Vic's having a party tomorrow night." He mumbled from beside her.

"And you're telling me because?..." Rachel was quite confused. Richard knew she hated people.

"Well, I told them that I'd be there, but they asked about you."

"Them?"

"Our friends Rachel." Richard sighed as he turned over on his stomach to see his twin's face.

"They aren't my friends, I've only just met them today." Rachel reasoned.

"They like you. They're quite an open bunch." Richard shrugged.

"I don't do parties."

"Rachel you and I both know you haven't been to a party since we were like, ten. And that was our own party." Richard had a point.

"I just don't want to go." She huffed, slightly irritated that her brother was doing pretty well at pleading his case so far.

"Gar will be there." He smiled mischievously as he wiggled his thick eyebrows.

"Don't care." Rachel taunted, her light red blush saying otherwise. She cursed herself for starting to resemble Jen whenever someone brought up Wally.

"I knew you would be difficult." Richard sighed. "So I have an offer you can't refuse."

"…I'm listening."

"You go to this party with me, stay an hour, and I'll let you drive us to and from school for the rest of the year."

Rachel's eyes darted to her brother. He couldn't be serious. He loved driving every morning. He was up to something, that was for sure. He's never pushed for her to hang out with him and his friends so hard before. Rachel thought hard of the pros and cons of going to one of the huge parties at Victor's that she had heard so much about. The idea of loud pop music and drunken teenagers was enough to make her want to throw up, but the desire to ensure her safety for the rest of the year was greater.

"Fine. Deal." Rachel mumbled as she rolled her violet eyes. It was only an hour. How bad could it be?

"Yes!" Richard fist-pumped as he hopped off of Rachel's bed. "You won't regret it Rach, you'll have a great time!" With that, Richard pulled out his cell and began to tell his friends of Rachel's decision to come. Rachel sighed. She didn't know a thing about parties. What did girls wear to parties these days? Was this a formal occasion? Did she need a date? Rachel was suddenly hit with a brilliant idea. She was far too embarrassed to try and talk to Richard about her insecurities, he would probably hold them against her for days, so she called the one girl who she actually felt comfortable with.

 _"Hello?"_

"Hey Jen."

 _"Rachel, we didn't have a homework assignment or anything did we?"_ Jen panicked. Of course, that was the only reason they ever communicated outside of school.

"No, nothing like that. This is about something else." Rachel said quietly, hoping that Richard wasn't eavesdropping.

" _Oh, alright."_ Jen's voice sounded relieved yet still a little confused as to why Rachel of all people were calling her. _"So what's up?_

"Are you by any chance going to Victor Stone's party tomorrow night?"

 _"Heck yeah! I mean who isn't?"_ Jen practically yelled into the phone, clearly excited.

"Well, I need your help."

 _"How so?"_

"…I've never been to a party before… I don't even know what to wear…" Rachel was not usually the one to try to impress others, everyone knew that. So, Rachel felt extremely awkward asking for Jen's help, but she was determined not to be the complete loser everyone assumed she was. Especially because she may have found a group of people who actually liked her. There was a long pause on the other line.

 _"This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain blonde boy now would it, Rachel?"_ Rachel could hear Jen's catlike smirk in her voice.

"No. I just don't want to stick out like a sore thumb. I want to get there, sit in a corner for an hour, and leave. That is it." Rachel snapped, somewhat embarrassed. She knew she sounded extremely weird from her usual self. Jen wasn't even aware of the deal she made with her twin.

" _Okay, okay. You know what? You're sleeping over at my house. Get your crap together. I'll text you my address in a second."_ Before Rachel could protest, the line went dead.

"I guess I'm going to Jen's." Rachel mumbled to herself as she put her cell phone in her back pocket.

…

"Do you need me to pick you up tomorrow?" Richard asked as he stuck his head out of the driver's window.

"No, I think I'll just meet you at the party, but if anything changes I'll text you." Rachel shrugged, pushing her purple duffle bag up on her shoulder.

"Alright. Call me if you need anything. Even if it's three in the morning I can come get you." Richard said seriously, looking Rachel in the eye. Richard was particularly worried about Rachel when it came to situations like this. His worry came from an accident in the sixth grade when Rachel was invited to a sleepover, only to have half her hair shaved and cut off while she was asleep. The whole sleepover had been orchestrated by mean girls that Rachel thought she could trust. Rachel had cried about her appearance for a long time after that night. She was forced to get her hair cut very short so that it could grow back evenly. She hadn't been to a sleepover since. Many tried to bully her further at school, but Richard wouldn't let them.

"Hey, I'll be fine. That was a long time ago." Rachel sent him a half smile, understanding his concern but hoping he wouldn't stress himself too much while she was gone. "Don't worry about me, go hang out with Kori or something."

"Maybe I will." He smiled as Rachel waved and began to walk up to Jen's door.

Jen's house was nice. It was a quite big white house with dark blue shutters on every large window. Before Rachel could knock on the door, Jen opened the door wide.

"Hey Rachel! I'll show you to my room." Jen began to close the door when Rachel stepped inside until she noticed that Richard's car was still sitting in front of her house. She cupped both hands around her mouth before yelling "HEY RICH!". Rachel chuckled as her twin smiled and waved, then sped off.

"Is he always like that around you?" Jen asked curiously as she closed her front door and led Rachel up the stairs to her room.

"Protective? Yeah, a little bit." Rachel stated quietly.

"Man I wish I had a brother like that. By the way, my parents are out right now getting stuff for dinner. They should be back any minute." Jen said as she opened the door to her room. "Well here we are! My place!"

Jen's room was big and pink. She had a large canopy bed in the middle of the room, a white night stand next to it. A large white dresser sat on the other side of her bed. Pictures of Jen with friends were scattered around her walls. Rachel found all of the happy pictures in Jen's room surprising considering how dark and rude Jen could be when she wanted. Yet from the pictures on the wall, Jen seemed quite popular. Rachel took a seat on Jen's large pink sofa across from her large flat screen in the corner of the room.

"Surprised by all the pink, huh?" Jen asked as she plopped down on her bed.

"Well yeah, a little." Rachel admitted.

"My parents decorated my room like this when I was like, six." Jen shrugged. "I don't hate it or anything, but I'm definitely not into pink like I used to be."

Rachel nodded silently, not sure of what to say next.

"So. Let's talk about this party." Jen smirked. "Alright, so since its Victor we're talking about, his party won't be formal or anything. You don't need a date or anything like that, we're just gonna hang out with friends ya know? It'll be chill."

"Alright." Rachel agreed simply.

"Rachel."

"Yes?"

"Spill it about this guy." Jen demanded.

"Nothing to tell. His name is Garfield Logan. He's childish and thinks he's hilarious. He's kinda been following me around and he thinks it's okay to touch me."

"As if. Rachel I've never seen you at one of Victor's parties once. I've never seen you care about fitting in so much. What's the deal?"

"If you must know I made a deal with my brother." Rachel stated matter-of-factly.

"What kind of deal?" Jen sat up, clearly interested.

"Well he said that if I go to the party for an hour he'll let me drive to and from school for the rest of the year."

Jen made a face, obviously not impressed. "That's all it took?"

"You haven't ridden in a car with Richard." Rachel said, deadly serious. She stared into Jen's catlike eyes. "Anyway, tell me about Wally. What's the deal with you two?" Rachel changed the subject, hoping that Jen wouldn't bring up Gar again.

"I was in a bad place when I met Wally. It was freshmen year. I was going through somewhat of a rebellious phase I guess. I was stealing, skipping school, bullying. Wally saw past all the crap I was doing. Told me that it wasn't too late to change and I believed him. So, I started getting better grades, ditched the losers I was hanging out with, and spent more time with him." Jen shrugged.

"So, you're just friends?" Rachel asked curiously. Rachel had no idea why Jen was being so open, but she was happy that Jen seemed to trust her.

"Last I checked, yeah."

"You like him." Rachel decided simply.

"And you like Garfield." Jen retorted, smirking at Rachel's glare.

"I don't." Rachel insisted. Jen rolled her eyes as she got off of her bed and got out a movie case. She shuffled through what Rachel counted to be about twenty movies before deciding on one and putting it in her Blu-Ray player without even asking if Rachel wanted to watch it.

"I'm going to get popcorn, I'll be right back." Jen smiled as she exited her room.

Rachel pulled out her cell phone and texted Richard as soon as Jen was out of sight. The text read: _"Hey, don't worry about me tonight. I think I've found a good friend."_ Rachel smiled as she slowly began to relax.

 **So how was that? I really saw Jinx to be a good friend for Raven, so I decided to write her in! Please leave reviews to let me know what you think! Thanks for reading! :)**


	5. This Might Not Be So Bad

**Wow, two updates in one day! Hope any of you who took a look at "Through the Years" are enjoying it so far! Now, on with this chapter which I had a really fun time writing.**

 _ **Chapter Five: This Might Not Be So Bad**_

Rachel woke up the next morning due to Jen's monstrous snoring beside her. The two decided to share Jen's enormous bed due to neither of them feeling weird about it and both of them feeling exhausted. Rachel groaned as she rolled over on her back, thinking. Last night had been more fun than she'd had with someone other than her twin in years. The two stayed up late, first watching countless Disney movies then searching for a series to binge watch together on Netflix. Rachel really didn't think she'd be the type to enjoy a Disney movie at sixteen, but watching movies such as _The Little Mermaid_ for the first time really changed her mind. Jen seemed to really like kid's movies, and she wasn't ashamed to admit it. After making fun of the all the singing, Rachel decided that the movies could be worse. Once the Disney marathon was over and the teenagers turned to Netflix, Jen commented on a show she had heard of before. It was some overly dramatic show about surgical interns and their attendings at some hospital in Seattle. The two watched the first two episodes, just for kicks, but were soon hooked. They were up until about four in the morning watching surgeries. Rachel chuckled as she remembered fighting with Jen over which intern was the best. Last night Rachel was possibly the happiest she'd been in a while. She brought herself back to the present when she realized just how hungry she was. Rachel shoved Jen's shoulder, attempting to wake her up. Jen groaned, flipped onto her back and turned her head towards Rachel, eyes still closed.

"I'm hungry." Rachel complained.

"Mmph, what do you want me to do about it?" Jen mumbled, clearly only half awake.

"It's your house!" Rachel laughed lightly, pushing Jen's arm again. Jen slowly propped herself up and pushed her messy hair out of her face.

"We have waffles."

"I love waffles."

"Good, go make some." Jen grumbled as she covered herself back up, pulling the blankets off of Rachel.

Rachel rolled her eyes at her new found friend's antics. "You act like I know my way around your kitchen."

Jen sat up suddenly. "Fine. I'll show you where everything is. That way, next time you won't have to wake me up." Jen finally got out of bed. She tied her hair up in a messy bun and began to stomp her way to the kitchen.

"Whatever you say, Grumpy." Rachel teased as she followed Jen down the stairs. Rachel wouldn't say it out loud, but she was secretly delighted that Jen had used the words "next time".

Once Jen got some food in her stomach, she was in a considerably better mood. "So, you excited for the party?" She asked as she sipped on some orange juice. The two girls were downstairs in their pajamas, sitting on barstools that faced a bar connecting to the outside of Jen's kitchen.

"Jen, it's only like ten. The party isn't until seven." Rachel reasoned.

"Well I know that," Jen rolled her eyes. "But we still have a ton to do!"

"Like what?" Rachel asked slowly, somewhat scared of what her friend had planned.

"Rachel, I'm taking you shopping!"

"…What."

"You said you don't know what to wear! That's what shopping is for!"

"I just assumed I'd look at what I already have… Or borrow something from you?" Rachel absolutely hated going to the mall. Too many people from school hung out there. She usually opted to do all her shopping online or tell a maid or butler to go pick up something for her. Of course, she wasn't going to tell Jen that.

"Come on, it'll be fun." Jen pleaded as she begun to put away her and Rachel's dirty dishes. "We can go out, shop, and maybe grab some lunch. Then we can come back here and watch _Grey's Anatomy_ until it's time to get ready for Vic's party! Perfect day."

Rachel weighed her options. She could either go home and be bugged by Richard to be a normal teenager, or stay with Jen and be bugged to be a normal teenager. She decided that Jen was the better option, but only because she really wanted to see what happened on the next episode of _Grey's Anatomy._

"Alright. Let's get dressed." Rachel said as she followed Jen back upstairs.

…

"What about this?" Jen asked as she posed in front of Rachel.

"You look great." Rachel droned for what felt like the millionth time. Jen had been trying on various outfits for at least the last hour. Rachel had picked out what she was going to wear pretty quickly. Now she was just waiting for her friend to pick something. Anything.

"You said that about the last ten outfits, Rachel!" Jen complained, slightly whining.

"What? They all looked great!" Rachel defended herself. After all Jen had a pretty decent figure. It was hard for her to look bad in anything.

"I swear you're about as bad as Wally." Jen sighed as she shook her head.

"You've gone shopping with Wally?" Rachel raised her eyebrows.

"Eh once or twice." Jen mumbled as she stared at herself in the mirror. "I think this one is the one."

"Good. We can eat now, right?" Rachel asked plainly.

"Yeah, yeah." Jen rolled her eyes as she walked back to her fitting room. Rachel waited patiently outside the door while Jen changed. Seconds later Jen emerged from the small room holding the outfit she wanted to purchase. After what felt like an eternity of waiting in line for Rachel, the two girls finally headed towards the food court. Right as they were getting in line for Chick-fil-a, a familiar voice stopped Rachel in her tracks.

"Hey Rachel!" Gar's voice called as he began to walk towards her. Jen elbowed Rachel in the side before smiling at the boy approaching them.

"Hello Gar… What's up?" Rachel replied, trying to keep her cool. She wasn't exactly sure what to do in situations like this, hence why she never came to the mall.

"Ah, Wally and I got talking the other day, turns out he's mad into video games too. He came here with me to check out this new racing game that just came out."

"Wally's here?" Jen asked, ears slightly perking.

"Yeah dude, he's a little behind me." Gar shrugged, barely paying attention to Jen.

"Sorry, where are my manners? I'm Jennifer. Everyone calls me Jen." Jen introduced, hand held out in front of her.

Gar took it, tearing his eyes away from Rachel. "Gar." He stated simply. Rachel stayed silent as Garfield's eyes drifted back to hers.

"Uh, you want to eat with us Gar?" Jen asked, slightly annoyed that she was beginning to feel like a third wheel.

"Sorry, we just ate." Wally smiled as he finally caught up to Gar and joined the conversation.

"Hm. Too bad." Jen smiled back. The two sparked up their own conversation in a matter of seconds, speaking quickly to one another. Meanwhile, Rachel awkwardly looked at everything but Garfield.

"You'll be at the party later tonight right?" Garfield asked, eyes still on Rachel.

"…Yeah, I will be."

"We'll hang out then. See you later Rachel." Gar smiled brightly as he began to take a step back. "Oh, and nice meeting you, Jen." He added.

"See you girls later!" Wally added as he waved and began to walk away with Garfield. Jen turned to Rachel.

"Wow. It's worse than I thought." She sighed.

"What is?" Rachel questioned.

"You and Gar. Way worse." Jen didn't offer any more explanation to her comment as they finally got into line for their lunch.

…

"I still can't believe Derek is married." Jen complained as she stuffed her mouth with chocolate. Rachel looked lazily at Jen who was sprawled out next to her on her fluffy pink couch.

"I'm not surprised honestly. His relationship with Meredith seemed too good to be true."

"Thanks, buzzkill." Jen mumbled as she clicked a button on her remote to start the next episode. Rachel rolled her eyes as she checked her phone.

"Hey, shouldn't we start getting dressed? It's six-thirty."

"Eh, Vic lives right down the road. Besides, no one actually shows up right at seven. Gosh Rachel read a book." Jen teased as she chewed on more candy.

"You just want an excuse to watch one more episode before we go." Rachel said plainly.

"What can I say? I think I'm addicted."

"Well you can put on clothes while you watch. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can leave." Rachel sighed as she stood up, looking for the shopping bag that had her new outfit inside.

"Yeah, yeah." Jen said under her breath as she rolled off of her couch in the laziest way possible. She soon began looking for her things as well, yet it took her much longer because she stopped every few minutes to look at what was happening on the screen.

Rachel made her way to Jen's bathroom, her change of clothes in hand. At the mall Rachel decided on a new black leather jacket to wear under a pale green V-neck. Her tight dark green skirt ended a few inches before her knees. Rachel decided to leave her short choppy hair down as she applied her usual dark makeup to her eyes. Rachel wore her favorite black combat boots. When she emerged form Jen's bathroom Jen was already completely dressed and back on her couch enjoying her new favorite show. Her hair was in its usual ponytail, with countless fly away hairs framing her face. Jen wore a casual black dress. She had a lace pink sweater to go with it. On her feet she wore pink boot heals. Her dark makeup surrounding her eyes looked very similar to Rachel's.

"Wow Rachel you look great! I'm sure Gar will be happy tonight." Jen smiled as she stood up, turning off the television.

"Oh shut up." Rachel hissed as she began to march down the stairs, leaving Jen snickering behind her.

Rachel huffed when she got to Jen's front door, remembering that she had no idea how to get to Victor Stone's house. Jen was beside her seconds later, still smiling widely.

"Alright, we can just walk to Vic's since his house isn't too far away." Jen explained as she led the way to the party.

"Sounds good." Rachel shrugged content that Jen was through teasing her for now.

As the two walked on the sidewalk leading to Vic's house they never ran out of anything to say. Rachel couldn't believe that someone she never even talked to outside of school could become so close to her in one night.

"Well! Here we are… Victor Stone's house!" Jen exclaimed as she opened her arms out wide in front of the large house. The house was already starting to get crowded. Rachel could see fellow classmates already going in and out of the house, laughing and talking to one another loudly over the blasting music. Rachel inwardly groaned, not looking forward to dealing with so many people. Jen glanced over at her and seemed to read her thoughts.

"Hey, it'll be fine. Just relax; we're here to have fun!" She said as she tugged Rachel up to the house.

The inside of Victor's house was already beginning to unravel. Rachel pitied whoever had to clean up after all of her classmates. Jen dragged Rachel almost all throughout the party, only stopping occasionally to say hello to people that Rachel had met at lunch the other day. Just by walking through the enormous party, Rachel had learned a considerate amount about Richard's friends. For example, Kori enjoyed putting mustard on just about anything. Garth was always either drinking water or in water. Rachel hadn't seen him get out of Vic's pool at all in the past hour her and Jen wandered around and socialized. Karen was practically a mom, scolding people like Roy who brought beer to the party. Victor was remarkably chill to say his house was being destroyed; apparently this happened every few weeks. The only person that Rachel hadn't run into was Gar, which was strange considering he had managed to bump into her so much during the last couple of days. Even Jen had found Wally eventually; he was in a corner talking to Richard about motorcycles.

"Have you guys seen Garfield?" Rachel asked the two boys over the loud music.

Richard shook his head as he smiled knowingly. "You know your hour is up right?" He opened his mouth to tease more, but simply smiled when he noticed Rachel's glare. "Nope. Sorry. If I see him I'll tell you though."

"Wipe that smirk off your face, Richard." Rachel practically growled as she turned on her heel, not bothering to wait for Jen. She figured Jen would want to hang out with Wally anyway.

Rachel grunted as she pushed past all of the bodies crowding Victor's house. After a few minutes of searching, Rachel finally gave up and headed outside. There was a large white porch in front of Victor's house, so she went that way and made herself comfortable on one of the puffy white seats overlooking the road.

"Needed some air, huh?" A familiar voice asked from behind her. She turned around to see Gar, clad in the same outfit she saw him in earlier. He was wearing a dark green button down and black jeans.

"Where have you been? We got here about an hour ago but we couldn't find you." Rachel said as Gar took a seat beside her.

"Ah. Yeah, I only got here about thirty minutes ago. Was running late. Guess I just missed you inside because you're so short." He teased. Rachel rolled her eyes. She wasn't _that_ short. "Hey," he said seriously. "You look beautiful tonight by the way."

Rachel blushed hard, she was sure of it. She wasn't even sure what to say to that. No guy had ever called her beautiful before. "…Thanks…"

"And you know what I realized?" Gar asked, not waiting for an answer. "When we were at lunch the other day, I told you my whole life story. You didn't even try to mention yours. Why is that?"

Rachel knew the answer. She wasn't proud of her past. She didn't like to think of the countless foster homes she went through and constant fear that she'd get separated from Richard. "I just don't like to talk about myself."

"I've noticed." Gar smiled, eyes sparkling. "I can live with that. I can talk enough for the both of us!"

Rachel rolled her eyes yet again, but this time she failed to hold back her small smile of amusement.

"Look at that smile." Gar commented, sounding slightly mesmerized. His eyes were wide as he grinned stupidly at Rachel. "I wouldn't mind seeing that more often."

 **There you have it! Don't be alarmed, there's more party shenanigans to go on in the next chapter. As always I hope you enjoyed and take the time to review! :)**


	6. Parties might be Cool

**Hello again guys! So there's a lot of fluff in this chapter between Gar and Rachel. *You're welcome* Ha, anyway I am now officially on Spring Break so hopefully I'll be able to update more than once this week. Fingers crossed. I am really looking forward to all the free time I'm going to have. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 _ **Chapter Six: Parties might be Cool**_

Rachel was at a loss for words. How could Garfield, someone who she had just met, compliment her so easily and willingly? Sure, she had agreed to start over with him and not be intentionally rude, but that didn't mean that he was allowed to not be intimidated by her at all. Rachel considered that she must have been losing her edge before another comment by Gar pulled her back into reality.

"So how's the party been so far? I haven't spent too much time inside." Gar changed the subject. He noticed how uncomfortable Rachel seemed to be with his comment, so he let it go for the time being. He really did mean what he said though, her smile was beautiful. If he could be lucky to cause that smile to make more appearances, he'd be a very happy guy.

"I don't have much to compare it to. I haven't been to a party in ages." Rachel admitted as she slightly ducked her head, hiding a slight blush of embarrassment. She'd never been embarrassed of her lonely past, but something about Gar's demeanor told her that he had been to his fair share of parties. He was similar to Richard. Cool, calm, admittedly not hideous. Your typical popular guy. Rachel had no doubt in her mind that in a few days, if not sooner, Gar would be surrounded by everyone at school just as her brother was every day. A small frown formed on her face at the thought of sharing her new found friend, or whatever he was, with more people. She wasn't sure why she was feeling jealous over a boy she didn't even know very well, but as of now he was the only person other than Jen to make an effort with her. He was worthy of her friendship. Garfield suddenly stood up, holding a hand out.

"Come on, you should go experience it then. No fun in sitting out here all night, we can do that any time." Rachel knew Gar had a point, but she wasn't easily swayed.

"I don't know, it's pretty crowded in there and there are a lot of drunken idiots like Roy bumbling around." Rachel looked up at Gar. His hand didn't waver.

"Come on Rae, I won't let anything happen to you." He had a small half smile on his face, like that of a child trying to hold in excitement.

"My name is Rachel." She spat suddenly as she stood up ignoring Gar's still outstretched palm.

" _Rachel_ it is then." Garfield rolled his eyes as he reached for Rachel's dainty hand and began to drag her inside the huge house. The two passed the large various rooms of Vic's house. In the front room, it seemed to be the quietest. There were couples talking and sipping on wine coolers along with a few loners staring at their phone screens. In the kitchen several guys who seemed to be on the football team were chugging as much beer as possible. Roy was along with them, cheering on a particularly huge guy that went by Mammoth around school. Honestly the kid looked like a thirty year old man. Rachel had always assumed it was because he failed his classes so many times. The upstairs was roped off, but from the various clothes spotted at the top of the stairs, well, Rachel could imagine what was going on up there. In the living room the music was the loudest as kids that Rachel knew were doing nothing but grinding on each other or making out viciously in front of everyone. Both pastimes seemed quite disgusting to Rachel. The two then passed the open door to the basement where various video game sounds could be heard. Rachel assumed that the nerds in the basement had only come to the party to use what sounded to be Vic's very expensive top of the line gaming system. After the lap around the party, Garfield led Rachel back to the living room.

"Dance with me." He smiled as he let go of her hand. Rachel's arms immediately went up to cross over her chest defensively.

"I don't dance." Rachel shook her head as she took a step back towards the wall, away from the dance floor. Gar went in the opposite direction then turned to face her.

"Come on." He grinned as he began to move in very silly motions, not even going to the beat of the music. His grin widened when he saw Rachel begin to suppress a smile. He began to make his movements even more ridiculous, pulling out every dance move he had seen his parents do in some old home videos. A small group of students seemed to be watching him now. Without a doubt he was sure that a smartphone was recording him, but he didn't pay it much mind.

"Dancing like an idiot won't chance anything, Gar." She said almost in a voice that sounded eerily similar to a giggle.

"You know you wanna." He laughed as he came close to Rachel's face before he did a small spin then faced her again.

"No, I really don't." She smirked as she jutted out her hip, putting all of her weight on one leg.

"Fine, have it your way."

After many failed attempts of trying to get Rachel to dance with him, Gar finally accepted the fact that Rachel was too shy of a person to completely let go and have some fun. That would be okay for now, but eventually he vowed that he would somehow get Rachel to really relax for once.

"Hey, wanna go in the backyard? It's probably the best place to be." Gar said into Rachel's ear as he finally stopped dancing, hoping that she would hear him over the blasting music. He respected that Rachel might not be the whole "get drunk and dance like there's no tomorrow" type of girl. If he was completely honest with himself, he wasn't like that either. Rachel held back the urge to flinch at the sudden feeling of Garfield's breath on her ear. She simply nodded after realizing that Gar's head was too far away for her to whisper back to. He really did make her feel short. Out in the backyard the vibe was much more to Rachel's liking and less hormonal. There were many small tables set out with candles and flowers on top surrounding the pool. While there were a few others sitting at the tables, there were plenty of Rachel's peers standing up and dancing to the music blasting from inside. It wasn't nearly as loud outside, but it was heard well enough for the teenagers outside to dance around each other. Rachel noticed that Garth was still swimming laps around the pool. He seemed to be the only one not bothered by the cool autumn night. Girls were surrounded by the edge of the pool, literally drooling as he flipped around carelessly in Vic's large pool. He seemed to be paying no attention to them. He just seemed content to be in the water. Garfield pulled Rachel over to an empty table and pulled out her chair.

"Thank you." Rachel mumbled as she watched Gar seat himself across from her.

"So. You don't dance, you don't talk to people other than Jen and Richard, you don't go to parties," Gar listed off as he counted on his fingers for emphasis. "What do you do, Rachel?"

"I read a lot."

"I read comic books." Garfield offered brightly.

"We've been over this." Rachel reminded him quietly.

"Well excuse me for trying to relate!" Gar sighing in a slightly whiny voice. Rachel smirked at his childish actions. "Well, tell me about your family then. Any other siblings?"

"No, just Rich."

"What about your parents? What do they do?"

Rachel thought out her response quickly but logically. "My mother died some time ago and my dad works for Bruce Wayne Enterprises." She decided that a half lie was better than a whole one. After all her mother _did_ die and her father _did_ work for Bruce Wayne Enterprises. Sort of.

"Sorry about your mom, that must have been terrible." Gar said quietly, looking Rachel right in the eye. She responded completely honestly this time around.

"She wasn't exactly mother of the year. Plus it was forever ago, Richard and I barley remember her."

Gar nodded, not sure what to say from there. "Uh, hey, you want a drink? I'm kind thirsty." He said as he stood up.

"Just water would be fine, thanks."

"No problem. Be right back." With that, Gar headed to the other side of the backyard where multiple coolers were filled with various drinks. Almost as soon as Gar was behind Rachel, Jen seemed to come out of nowhere and sit in his seat.

"So how's it goin' with Gar? You guys seem to be hitting it off." She winked as she leaned close to Rachel from over the small black table.

"Everything is fine Jen."

"Fine or _fine_?" Jen whispered, once again with a sly wink.

"Jen I'm not sure what's in your eye, but maybe you should get that checked out." Rachel said in a mock serious tone as she widened her eyes for effect.

"Rachel you _know_ what I mean!" She whined.

"Yes, I do and I would prefer if you went away now. I can tell you about this later."

"You'd better." Jen grumbled as she quickly got up and stormed back over to where Wally was waiting for her. Rachel rolled her eyes at her friend's antics but quickly recovered as Gar returned with the drinks.

"What did Jen want?" He asked casually as he handed Rachel her ice cold water bottle.

"Oh nothing. She's just being a little nosy." Rachel said nonchalantly as she sipped on her drink.

"Ah alright." Gar smiled smugly as he glanced down.

"What are you smiling about?" Rachel asked, becoming somewhat defensive.

"Oh nothing, I'm just having a lot of fun. We should hang out like this again Rachel." Garfield genuinely smiled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

…

After what felt like countless hours of talking to Gar, Rachel was actually enjoying herself more than she expected. Garfield managed to get some laughs out of her and she felt almost as relaxed as she did when she was with Richard, and that was a big deal. After just one night together Rachel had felt considerably closer to Gar. She was surprised at how quickly she was making friends lately. First Jen then Gar, all in the past few days. Rachel forced herself to keep her excitement of new friends in as she kicked the water her feet were dangling in. Her and Gar had migrated to the pool after finishing drinks and began to talk to the others at the party. From left to right on the side of the large pool it went Wally, Jen, Richard, Rachel, Gar, Vic, and Bee. Garth was still in the water, only now he was simply floating on his pack as he spoke with his friends.

"Dude, I don't know how you're not freezing your tail off in there." Gar pointed out to Garth surprisingly.

"I don't know either man, I think the water feels great." Garth shrugged as he kicked himself a small foot further into the pool.

"I knew you'd be the only one in the pool." Victor shook his head as he watched Garth.

"Good lookin' out man." Garth nodded thumbs up to Vic as he closed his eyes peacefully. "Gar, come on in. The water is fine."

"No way I'm going in there man."

"What, you scared of some water Logan?" Jen laughed as she popped her head into the conversation from beside Richard. Garfield rolled his eyes.

"No I am not scared for your information, Jen."

"Then go for it. You go in, I'll go in." Jen smiled mischievously.

"Come on, I'm not even in a swimsuit like fish boy over here." Gar scoffed.

"Hey, if you guys are gonna make fun of me I prefer the name Aqualad." Garth commented as he dove into the water.

"Sounds scared to me." Richard added to the conversation. "Hey Wally, how much you want to bet Gar can't jump in the pool."

"Fifteen says he doesn't do it."

"Dudes, I can hear you." Gar snapped. "Anyway that's such a-" Before Gar could finish his sentence he felt a small hand on his back that forcefully shoved him into the water. The cold was not as shocking as he expected it to be, but still terribly uncomfortable as he swam his way back to the surface of the water. He looked for the one who had pushed him, but was met with an unusual sight. There was Rachel, hand covering her mouth, laughing. No, this wasn't a giggle or a scoff, but an actual genuine _laugh_. By far it wasn't loud or the most joyous laugh, but it was probably as close to a laugh that Rachel could get. After what felt like a long few moments of shock, Gar muttered under his breath.

"Oh it is so on." He grinned as he made a quick grab for Rachel's ankles and pulled her into the water with him. Unlike what anyone was expecting, Rachel did not yell for being touched or immediately attack Gar. She simply giggled as she called out to Garth.

"Hey, it does feel pretty good in here." She smirked at Gar's playful expression and splashed at him with two hands pushing on the surface of the water. The remaining dry teenagers simply stared and took the scene in, still in shock over what had just gone down.

"Welp. A promise is a promise." Jen shrugged, getting over the shock of Rachel actually acting like a normal teenager first. She slipped into the water and began to splash Garfield as well. Seconds later Wally dived in, figuring he was already getting wet enough from all the splashing going on around him. After all, it seemed that Gar was in some serious need of backup.

"Real mature guys." Richard smiled as he shook his head. He the rest of his friends sitting on the edge of the pool simply smiled as they watched the splash war in front of them unfold, but his smile was the widest. Rachel was having _fun_. Rachel was having fun with _people._ Rachel was having fun _with people at a party._ He had no idea what Gar had done to get Rachel to open up, even just a little, but he was glad that he did it. He made a mental note to thank him later.

 **Awh so cute. Rachel is starting to open up to the gang! Not saying that she'll be a head cheerleader anytime soon but this is a start. Anyway thanks so much to all of you who are still reading this story. Big thanks to all of my reviewers! Feedback is much appreciated. Please, tell me what you think of my story so far. I'm even open to suggestions as to what should be next for Rachel and Gar! Or even an idea for another story. I am open to anything. Once again thanks for reading guys. Til next time! :)**


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